


The fraternal one

by vanishing_apples



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Multi, Other, and yes they're still kids, background lucisan, more lucitriplets shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 20:14:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18858307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanishing_apples/pseuds/vanishing_apples
Summary: Lucilius knew he could not possibly be less related to Lucifer than his absolute fool of an elder brother.





	1. Chapter 1

“You’re the fraternal one.” 

Five-year-old Lucifer heard Lucilius thus declared one day, a thick book still open in his lap and one accusing finger pointed squarely at their eldest brother.

“N-no I’m not!” - Lucio frantically shook his head, already in tears without even the vaguest understanding of what he’d just been accused of. It was complex verbiage thrown his way with contempt, and that alone was enough reason to start crying. 

“You’re fraternal.” - Lucilius repeated coldly.

“Am not!”

“You are!”

“Luciferrrr!”

It was a fruitless game of nay-saying until Lucio dashed away from his unfinished tower of wooden blocks to go sob in Lucifer’s arms. 

Unfortunately, their youngest had just as little idea of what “fraternal” meant, having only acquired the ability to read himself long after Lucilius’ beginning to pore over entire sets of illustrated encyclopaedia. Lucifer’s steadily expanding pool of vocabulary may not yet match that of Lucilius, but he was still smart enough to comprehend the fortune in his circumstances, next to the late blooming Lucio’s especially. 

“Lucilius, I don’t know that word, but whatever it means it’s not Lucio.” - Lucifer’s defense of Lucio is about as effective as his attempt to stop Lucilius’ chanting of the word “fraternal” into Lucio’s ear.

“Then why is he nothing like us?” 

“But we’re exactly the same…”

“We are! We are!” - Lucio piped up from the soaked front of Lucifer’s shirt.

To his dismay, Lucilius only scoffed.

“No we’re not. Why are you such an idiot, then? Both Lucifer and I can read already and you’re not even done memorising the alphabet, dummy.”

“Mom says Lucio is doing his best...”

“I…!” - Lucio interrupted himself with a hiccup. - “I am! Words are just hard!”

“Huh. Clearly, you can’t be related to us.”

The heartless statement drained colour from Lucio’s face, and even Lucifer’s to a slighter degree. His jaw set in disbelief, Lucio could only kneel dumbstruck as his youngest brother voiced dissent in his stead.

“A… Aren’t we brothers…?”

“Technically, yes.” - Lucilius huffed. - “But to _him_ , only fraternally.”

“Lucilius, what does that mean?” 

“It means he’s less of a brother to us than we are to each other.”

Of what ensued, none of them would be able recall as more than a nebulous general chaos, punctuated by Lucio’s wailing at the top of his lungs, slammed doors and yelling adults. But whatever really followed mattered little, as the day stood firm in their memory only by its significance: It marked their shared enlightenment to “the fraternal curse”.


	2. Chapter 2

No amount of reassurance could dissuade Lucio from subscribing to Lucilius’ grand hypothesis that fraternal siblings were somehow inferior to identical ones, in spite of his own disdain towards it. So without much understanding of what it really meant to be the fraternal triplet, Lucio spent the next two years of his life trying to prove that he wasn’t one. 

He went about doing this by claiming as many similarities between himself and his younger brothers as possible. From clothing to toys and stationery, Lucio persuaded their parents to buy matching sets of three. It took very little for the unwitting couple to entertain his whims, as they too thought it was cute to have their triplets match. One after another, Lucilius’ annoyance built with each of such instances and culminated in a strong desire to punish Lucio for his hubris. 

His chance for vengeance came during a family outing at the local ice cream parlour.

“Pick whichever flavours you want.” - The boys’ mother told them. - “How about you go first, Lucifer?”

Lucifer had barely uttered a word before he was cut off by Lucio.

“Oh! Oh! Lucifer would like vanilla with sprinkles, right Lucifer?”

“I… I don’t mind vanilla, or sprinkles.” - Lucifer said timidly.

Lucio eagerly took the reluctant approval and turned back to their parents with a beaming smile.

“Then a vanilla with sprinkles for me, too! And so does Lucilius-”

“No, I don’t.” - Lucilius snapped. - “Mother, I want an apple sorbet. Lucifer would prefer that, too.”

Lucilius watched with glee as his older brother’s obnoxious grin wilted into a frown. 

“Apple sorbet…” 

“Yes. _Apple_.”

Lucio gulped, his despondence palpable to every other occupant of the table.

“Th… then I’ll have an apple sorbet like Lucilius and Lucifer…!”

“You can pick whatever you want, Lucio.” - Their father sighed with mild exasperation.

“N-no! I want whatever my brothers are having…”

Lucifer felt trapped between two fervent convictions: Lucilius’ faith in the veracity of his own theory, and Lucio’s determination to prove that his relationship with them was legitimate within the frames of said theory. Lucilius wanted Lucio tested, while Lucio blindly rose to the challenge as he would with every other hurdle encountered in his life. 

Besides, Lucifer’s ability to see the absurdity in the situation did not spare his young mind from Lucilius’ influence. His second brother was _too_ intelligent. As hard as it was to watch Lucio suffer, little Lucifer bought at least partially into Lucilius’ claims and did not even think himself capable of arguing otherwise.

The triplets ate their sorbets with wildly varied degrees of appreciation: Lucilius with excessive mirth, Lucio with extreme discomfort, and Lucifer an unvoiced desire for mocha flavoured ice cream instead.


	3. Chapter 3

Lucio had grown out of his crybaby phase by age eight while remaining as emotive (and easily distressed) as ever. Fortunately for him, Lucilius’ usage of the “fraternal” label significantly decreased on account of its diminished effectiveness at coaxing tears out of his older brother. 

It was largely thanks to Lucifer’s patient decoding of the term in language Lucio could understand: Baby birds in a nest hatch from different eggs but get along all the same. It didn’t matter if they were identical, splinters of the same cell or not, they were family. The word thus quietly sank to the back of their minds until one fateful camping trip. 

Lucio was an ecstatic ball of energy the entire week leading up to the day. Lucifer too, was restless and eager to spend three entire days surrounded by nature. The two took to packing a whole day in advance as outlet for their enthusiasm.

“So my clothes and your clothes and Lucilius’ are all here. Oh, we can’t forget your teddy either.” - Lucio hummed cheerfully as he wedged stuffed Lucifer’s favourite brown bear between some rolls of clothing in a backpack.

“Thank you, Lucio.” - Lucifer’s cheeks were dusted pink. - “Speaking of bedtime, we should bring bug spray since the mosquitoes will come out at night.”

“Good idea! Oh, and a board game as well! We might get bored in the evenings.” 

“That’s nice. I think we’ll need sunblock also, for hiking during the day.”

“A story book to tell around the campfire! How about this collection of scary stories?”

Lucio made an ominous “ooo” noise and wriggled his fingers at Lucifer, prompting his youngest brother to shrink away, mildly spooked.

“Uhm… Maybe it’s better to bring this survival manual instead.” 

“Hmm. Books are heavy so I don’t think we should bring both. What do you think, Lucilius?”

The blanketed lump on Lucilius’ side of their shared bed was unresponsive.

“Lucilius? What would you like to bring?” - Lucifer raised his voice. - “It’d be nice if you could read it to me before bedtime, too, like at home...”

A begrudging groan, Lucilius finally stirring under the covers. 

He really, really would rather stay home, where all his books, game console and home cooked food were. Where bugs or blistering sunlight or _a million potential triggers for his allergies_ were decidedly not. But then neither would there be Lucifer by his side. The thought of Lucifer spending three whole days away from his supervision made Lucilius’ stomach churn.

“...The survival manual.” - He grumbled.

The little noise of appreciation from Lucifer almost convinced Lucilius his discomfort would be warranted. He could not have been any more wrong.

Barely fifteen minutes into the first day’s hike, and Lucilius was already reminded of why he had hated the whole trip’s idea in the first place. Their father was charging uphill with fiery gusto, closely followed by a gleeful Lucio and after him Lucifer at a reasonable pace. 

Then there was Lucilius - heaving, wheezing and drenched in sweat as he struggled not to get pulled back down by the weight of his own backpack. 

“Lucilius, are you alright?” - Lucifer’s angelic face, stricken with concern, flit into his blurred vision. 

“‘I’m… I’m…” - His throat seemed to burn with acid vapour. - “...fine.”

Entirely unconvinced, Lucifer did not bother voicing his doubt before taking to transferring half the content of Lucilius’ backpack to his own. Lucifer then pulled Lucilius to his feet.

“Let’s go.” 

Yet, even with the lessened load and Lucifer’s hand firmly clasped around his, it did not take long before Lucilius was close to collapsing again. Lucio, finally realising that his younger brothers were lagging behind, turned around to offer his assistance next.

“Just hand me the rest, Lucilius!” 

“Get lost!” - Lucilius snarled, refusing to relent his half-emptied backpack.

“Lucilius, please.” - Lucifer pleaded under the entire arm Lucilius now had hooked around his neck. - “We need to make it to the campsite before dark.”

The half-emptied backpack was thus surrendered to Lucio. But even that would not prevent Lucilius from bringing the whole party to a halt for a third time.

“You okay there, sport?” - Their father asked Lucilius at the hiking trail’s final quarter. - “Need me to carry you?”

“I’m fine!” - Lucilius managed to bark out in between breaths, mortified by the mere idea of such humiliation.

At his brother’s paling visage, Lucio frowned.

“Don’t be stubborn, now. There’s no need to push yourself since we’re almost there anyway.” 

“I said… I’m fi- aaaah!?” 

Somehow with still enough air in his lungs, Lucilius screamed as his feet were suddenly left without purchase. In the blink of an eye, he found himself perched on their father’s shoulders, looking down at his awestruck brothers.

“Race to the top!” - The man called out to his earthbound sons before sprinting off with their sibling in tow.

“Huh!? No fair, Dad! But we won’t lose!!” 

“Be careful please! Don’t drop Lucilius!”

Their little race indeed got them to the campsite before sundown, but at the expense of an extremely irate Lucilius. For the rest of the evening the boy holed up in one corner of the triplets’ shared tent, unwilling to engage in any further activity. He even refused to eat until a distressed Lucifer personally brought him warm canned soup. 

But the comfort Lucilius enjoyed from being at the receiving end of Lucifer’s undivided attention was short lived owing to Lucio’s unwelcome presence.

“How come you still had such a hard time even though you weren’t carrying anything?” 

To Lucio’s innocent but insensitive question, Lucilius responded with silence. 

Lucio looked to Lucifer instead for a possible explanation, but was met only with resigned head shaking from the other boy. But non-response from his brothers did not deter Lucio’s gratuitously voicing his train of thoughts.

“That’s weird. Lucifer and I were totally fine! Even with added luggage we didn’t get super tired or anything…”

The foreboding, unnatural pause should have alarmed Lucifer more than it did, or better yet, motivated him to stop Lucio. Half a second of Lucifer’s inaction was enough time for Lucio to reap himself hefty consequences.

“Lucilius… could it be that… you’re the fraternal one?”

Just like that, their war on the “fraternal” label resumed, this time with the full force of Lucilius’ wrath and Lucio’s awakening to the fact that he too, was not above weaponising the term. The new stakes, as they were equally aware, were Lucifer’s alliance.


	4. Chapter 4

Lucio and Lucilius took every possible chance to claim greater similarity (and hence superiority of their relation) to Lucifer. The most menial of disagreements between them swelled into verbal standoffs. And while they all revolved around Lucifer, his efforts to diffuse tension all ultimately fell on deaf ears.

“Eat your veggies, Lucilius! Lucifer wouldn’t waste food like that.” 

“Tch. Oh yeah? Lucifer wouldn’t pick all the raisins off his sponge cake like a termite either.”

“...But I can be picky with food t-“ 

“Moooom!! Lucilius called me a termite!”

The dinner table had known no peace since their return from the camping trip. 

A yet more contentious instance began with Lucio and Lucilius trying to win Lucifer over for their respective competitive teams at school. By ill fortune, it seemed that the annual relay race for the district’s elementary schools and national mathematics championship were to be held on the same day. 

“But we really really reeeaally need Lucifer! Our opponents are very strong this year…” - Shaking Lucifer by one of his arms, Lucio pleaded.

Lucilius promptly ceased Lucifer’s other arm and yanked him out of Lucio’s grasp.

“So what? No brother of mine is going to spend his time surrounded by sweaty, brainless oafs. The math team is where he belongs.”

“That’s mean, Lucilius! And I’m your brother too!”

“Are you? I have trouble believing we are related to someone who consistently ranks among the class’ bottom ten in overall grade.”

“Lucilius, don’t say that. Lucio is our older bro-“

“Then…! Then I have trouble believing any brother of Lucifer and I would be heaving on his stomach in the middle of the field during PE as well!!”

That exchange ended with abrupt and alarming silence from Lucilius. Lucio found his sneakers filled with sand the next morning, which caused Lucilius to have his game console confiscated as punishment for the third time that month. Lucifer opted out of both competitions. 

Yearning for tranquility that was absent in his own home, the youngest triplet began seeking it elsewhere. He found it in the company of a little brown-haired boy whose family had recently moved into his neighbourhood. 

Being three years younger than Lucifer, Sandalphon was not yet old enough to fully understand or sympathise with all of his friend’s words. Lucifer still felt at peace in his presence all the same. After all, he only needed a willing listener who also appreciated the value of silence. Sandalphon was perfectly capable of fulfilling both roles. 

“...So… Are your brothers… bullying you?” - Sandalphon’s brows knit together at the end of Lucifer’s accounts, confusion apparent on his every feature.

Lucifer’s smile was weary as he gave Sandalphon’s tilted head a light pat. 

“No, not at all. They both love me very, very much, just… perhaps a little too much.”

The younger boy only seemed more befuddled at the added information.

“You can love someone too much?”

“Hmm…” - Twirling the lollipop stick between his fingers, Lucifer struggled to craft an explanation that Sandalphon would be able to understand. - “I’m happy that they love me, but I wish they would stop fighting to be closer to me than each other. For some reason, they both want to be _super_ related to me but not one another.”

It was hard to tell to which extent Sandalphon really understood from the way his lower lip hung open briefly, then pressed shut in an expression of deep contemplation. With the candy popped back into his cheek, the little boy almost seemed sullen as he mumbled.

“Well… I wouldn’t wanna be _super_ related to Belial. Feels icky.”

Lucifer burst into laughter, which caused Sandalphon’s unstuffed cheek to puff up as well.

“It’s true! He smells and is nothing but a bully! And I really hate it when people say I look just like a tiny him. I’m not tiny!

“Yes, yes. And Sandalphon is Sandalphon, not a small version of anyone else.”

“So… there’s no problem with Lucifer being not so close to his brothers, either. Besides, if you’re too close to them, it’ll be harder for us to go live far away in our own farm when we grow up...”

Lucifer’s eyes widened at the unexpected revelation. He had never thought of it that way. Lucio and Lucilius took issue to being labeled fraternal, but Lucifer himself did not. He would love his brothers regardless of whether or not he was. And indeed, some distance with his own family would better enable his fantasised future with Sandalphon. 

“You’re right. I want to live on a farm together when we grow up, too.” - With a smile full of renewed vigour, Lucifer ruffled Sandalphon’s hair affectionately. - “Thank you, Sandalphon. You are very smart.”

Sandalphon’s elated, innocent grin only solidified in Lucifer’s mind the sense of his realisation. 

But when he suggested to Lucio and Lucilius that evening that he ought to bear the “fraternal” label, their faces were frozen in silent horror. That night and many more after it, Lucifer would struggle to fall asleep as he laid trapped in the suffocating joined embrace of his brothers. They neither acknowledged his brilliant proposal nor mentioned it ever again.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to Lucifer, there was prolonged peace between Lucilius and Lucio in their shared existential crisis. Lucifer never understood the gravity of what he did, but was nonetheless thankful to Sandalphon for the current situation. Now, if only Lucilius could show the same gratitude towards his dear friend instead of intimidating him every time they met.

Little did Lucifer know, the calm was momentary. Renewed unrest reared its head when the triplets next had their heights measured.

“Oh dear... “ - Their mother exclaimed as she marked Lucilius’ height on the doorframe with red chalk.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” - Lucio bounced on tiptoes to peek over his kneeling mother’s shoulder before dashing to her side, evading the foot Lucilius held out to trip him with practiced dexterity. - “Oooh… Yikes.”

Lucio’s reaction piqued Lucifer’s curiosity as well. The youngest boy closed in on his mother’s other side and immediately spotted the issue: Lucio and Lucifer’s blue and yellow chalk marks - despite not lining up perfectly - were at roughly the same height, but Lucilius’ red was a good ten centimetres below them both.

“What?” - With his back still against the door frame, Lucilius huffed, irritated by the acute scrutiny.

“See, this is why you have to eat your veggies, Lucilius.” - Lucio said frowning.

“...Mom and Lucio are right.” - Lucifer had already begun repenting for every mushroom he had ever left uneaten. - “Vegetables are very important…”

“Now, now. You’re all growing boys. I’m sure Lucilius still has plenty of time to catch up.” 

In the seconds to follow in which Lucilius checked the height markers for himself, Lucilius’ family would learn that it was in fact, possible for his face to grow even paler than it already was. 

“This… You’re all ridiculous! Vegetables are primarily a source of fibre and vitamins, not calcium and therefore contribute little in terms of facilitating growth…” 

“But Lucilius, if that’s not it then what else could explain for… this? You just can’t be that different to us.” - Lucio cocked his head to the side in genuine confusion for a second. But his eyes almost immediately lit up with the smallest devious glint. - “...or can you?”

“Lucio, no! Don’t go there!”

Again, Lucifer’s pleas went pitifully ignored.

“Lucilius must be our fra-“

“SHUT UP.”

Lucilius launched himself at Lucio, teeth and unclipped fingernails bared. It was the first instance a scuffle of this nature terminated in violence. Even with Lucifer and their mother prying them off each other, Lucilius had still managed to leave his marks on Lucio in mere seconds.

He had always been so sedentary, so usually found sitting, lying down, or hunched over a keyboard, that his own family failed to notice, but Lucilius was indeed, markedly small compared to his siblings. Being made aware of the fact was a fatal blow to his pride. He could _not_ be less related to Lucifer than his absolute fool of an elder brother. 

Thus began Lucilius’ attempts to rectify this unforgivable rift in his perfect reality. He even finally lent an ear to Lucifer’s entreaty to exercise, for a while, anyway. Once he decided that the time spent miserable and sweating was better allocated to other more productive, intellectually nourishing activities, his secret evening basketball matches with Lucifer were history. Secret, because Lucilius’ pride would not allow Lucio knowledge of his active efforts. He really would rather die than seem the least bit like he was trying.

For some time, only Lucifer was privy to Lucilius’ nightly escapades where he would slink out of bed at around midnight when Lucio - the heaviest sleeper among them - was positively unconscious, to sneak a few extra gulps of milk from the kitchen. He was prudent enough not to ask, but in his groggy stupors Lucilius would sometimes forget to wipe the white mustache off his upper lip before going back to bed, and two of such instances were enough clue for Lucifer to tell what had been going on. But even Lucilius’ faith in Lucifer’s silence would not protect his secret from Lucio forever.

As ill fate would have it, Lucio had one too many bags of crisps one night and was pulled awake at around midnight by his parched throat. Without realising that one of his younger siblings were missing, Lucio made his way to the kitchen for a glass of water only to find Lucilius by the open refrigerator. 

“Luci… lius?” - Under the refrigerator’s sullen, cold white glow, poor Lucio couldn’t even tell right away which one of his brothers was before him.

It wasn’t at all clear to Lucilius whether or not Lucio had seen the milk carton in his hand, but his defensive mechanism was quick to react. 

“What are you… Wait… No! That’s mine!? Lucilius stop that!”

Lucio watched in shock as Lucilius took a huge, unceremonious bite from the cream puff he had reserved for the following day. The milk carton stealthily tucked back behind the refrigerator’s door, Lucilius had both hands free to secure the pastry as he devoured it within two mouthfuls. Lucilius was never above unwarranted antagonism in the name of safeguarding his dignity, and neither was it unusual for Lucio to suffer in consequence. 

Despite his vehement efforts, Lucilius still refused to have his height measured the following two months. It wasn’t at all cowardice that kept him from confronting reality, Lucilius just saw no point in the practice, he claimed. 

Yet, fate rewarded even the antagonistic. Lucilius was about to see his lifelong assumptions crumble, but perhaps for the better. 

“Oh my, Lucifer is taller than Lucio now.” 

Never in his life had Lucilius ever known himself so athletically capable. Having bolted from his cushioned spot on the sofa to reach the door in mere seconds, Lucilius stared in awe at the chalk lines: Lucifer’s blue a considerable distance above Lucio’s yellow. 

His chest felt full with an odd, lukewarm stew of complicated emotions. On the one hand, this meant Lucio was no more connected to Lucifer than he was. But on the other, even with their still changing heights taken into account, such marked variations in their growth speeds could mean that… 

“Aww. So we’re all fraternally related?” - For once Lucio accurately voiced Lucilius’ thoughts. 

“I’m fine with that. Let’s just all be fraternal brothers…” - Lucifer sounded resigned as could be. 

But Lucilius still had gripes with finally letting his hypothesis die. 

“Wait a minute, Lucifer. You know that even among identical siblings, there are var-" 

“Lucilius, let it go, please.” 

“But-“ 

“We’re all. fraternal.” - Frustration added remarkable weight to Lucifer’s voice. Enough weight that even the stubborn Lucilius knew there was no point in further pursuing the matter without Lucifer’s willingness to play along. 

“Honestly I don’t get what the ruckus is about. How much closer do you kids want to be having crawled out of me at practically the same time, huh?” - Their mother chuckled. 

“Not the same time, Mom! I was three whole minutes earlier than- mmph!” 

“Shut up, Lucio.” 

In blocking more foolish words from exiting Lucio’s mouth at least, Lucilius was more than glad to have Lucifer’s alliance. With the fraternal sibling discourse dead, however, the gears in his head began to turn once more. Maybe in a few weeks’ time he could find a way to weaponise the information of triplets’ birth orders, or emerging times, in a similar fashion. 

**Author's Note:**

> Same universe as this https://archiveofourown.org/works/18335324 fic, but you don't need to know that to enjoy this one. Hopefully you enjoy it. Thanks for reading!


End file.
